Narine wrecks Chennai

Narine took three wickets for Trinidad & Tobago and won the game for them. For Chennai, this was an abysmal performance, one which they should try to forget !

They couldnt chase a modest 124 and were just 111/6, at the end of the allotted 20 overs.

Hussey was crestfallen after the loss "It wasn't a difficult target. We had our plans ready. We wanted to get off to a good start, keep wickets intact and then attack in the last few overs. But unfortunately, we lost three quick wickets. Ideally, one of the top three or four should have played a majority of the innings."

A shoddy performance had done Chennai in. "Ours is a flexible order but we lost quick wickets. We needed someone to stabilise the innings, and that's the reason we sent (Wriddhiman) Saha up the order. Both Saha and S Badrinath have done the job for us previously. But unfortunately, it didn't work today." said the dejected Hussey.

Off spinner Sunil Narine came as Nemesis and took three vital wickets, to put Chennai on the back foot. He took three for eight in his allotted four overs.

"We couldn't read which way he (Narine) was spinning the ball because we haven't played him before. Sometimes, it's tough to play someone we haven't faced. There was a bit of Ajantha Mendis sort of mystery with him, but the more we play him we will get used to him, as it happened with Mendis. I thought their spinners bowled wonderfully and the slowness of the track aided them," said Mr Cricket.

Mr Cricket felt that Chennai should have opened with Ashwin and not with the two medium pacers. "There was a bit of variable bounce on the track, so we thought it's better to use fast bowlers up front. A lot of balls kept low and medium pacers could have better utilised it."

Hussey hoped that the relaid Chepauk pitch will play better in the future.

"After the IPL, they dug it up and re-laid it, and most pitches will take time to be din. So we have to give some more time for the groundsmen to work on it. The crowd will obviously be quite disappointed, but come next IPL, I'm sure there will be plenty of runs on this wicket. But as a player, we should be able adapt to all kinds of pitches." he averred.

Earlier, T & T's innings was redeemed by a 28 off 10 from their bowler Kevon Cooper. Barath ( 23 ) and Perkins ( 34 ) also batted well.

For Chennai, Dwayne Bravo's 32 was the only redeeming feature. Most of the reputed batsmen fell, unable to read Narine's off breaks.

Rains gods block Kanwar's & Pollard's heroics !

Pollard scored a brilliant 58 and took MI to a great 178/5, when the rain gods decided to finish the game.

Sarul Kanwar impressed with his 45. Six fours and three sixes flowed off the bat of Pollard, as CC bolwers were at the receiving end.

Kanwar smashed five sixes and and three fours in an incredible display of batting, in his 45 off 21.

When Kemp put the opposition into bat, Kanwar lofted Langveld to kickstart the blazing Mumbai innings. Even Steyn could not stop the rampaging Kanwar, who was severe on him, hitting him for a four and a six in the third over. Duminy was lofted out of the ground, as Kanwar blasted 17 runs of him ( two fours and a six ). Kanwar lofted Petersen for a mighty six, but the cunning spinner got his revenge, as the dangerous batsman holed out to Shah !

Rains gods block Kanwar's & Pollard's heroics !

Pollard scored a brilliant 58 and took MI to a great 178/5, when the rain gods decided to finish the game.

Sarul Kanwar impressed with his 45. Six fours and three sixes flowed off the bat of Pollard, as CC bolwers were at the receiving end.

Kanwar smashed five sixes and and three fours in an incredible display of batting, in his 45 off 21.

When Kemp put the opposition into bat, Kanwar lofted Langveld to kickstart the blazing Mumbai innings. Even Steyn could not stop the rampaging Kanwar, who was severe on him, hitting him for a four and a six in the third over. Duminy was lofted out of the ground, as Kanwar blasted 17 runs of him ( two fours and a six ). Kanwar lofted Petersen for a mighty six, but the cunning spinner got his revenge, as the dangerous batsman holed out to Shah !

Kolkotta win at last !

Bangalore were 92/6 and then Vettori took the attack to the bowlers end, hammering 46. Bhatkal gave him good support. 169 was not a bad score, but it was not enough to contain the in form Kolkotta batsmen.

Brad Haddin played a gem of an innings, but then he perished when the score was 62 off 8 overs. Then the clinical 'callous" Kallis ( 64 not out ) and Gambhir ( 55 not out)took the Knight Riders home !

Bangalore never deserved to win, after being 92/6. All top order batsmen failed and Vettori and Bhatkal (25) had to do the rescue act.

Bravo lofts Chennai to victory

On advice from Dhoni to play on Indian turfs, Dwayne Bravo played a splendid innings of 46 runs off 26 balls, to pave the way for a magnificent Chennai victory.


Dwayne was the cynosure of all eyes, as with captain Dhoni, he added 43 runs off 39 balls for the sixth wicket to set the platform for the grest onslaught in the death overs.

"You must give credit to MS (Dhoni) because he really showed the way as how to go about in this wicket, placing the ball in the gaps, and running a lot of singles and twos. It was unfortunate he got out but by that time we knew we had a realistic chance of winning the match," Bravo said after CSK's six-wicket win over Cobras last night."

Bravo felt thatCape Cobras would have been better off with a spinner rather than a fast bower in the death overs.

"Taking the pace off the ball is a good idea, but when you have the world's best bowler in your team, you expect him to take wickets. Today, unfortunately, the balls didn't come off well for Steyn, and as a batsman I capitalised," said the Calypso wonder.

The wicket, he said, is tough.

"It's a good wicket as it tests your abilities. If you get your eyes in and play proper shots, you will be able to get runs. The pitch is relaid and we are only getting used to it, but as the tournament progresses teams will get accustomed to it," said the formidable all rounder.

"Callous" Ferguson devastates !

Callum Ferguson played a callous innings, 70 off 40 balls to guide the South Australian Redbacks to victory. Involved in a 84 run partnership with Christian, the callous Ferguson's innings helped the Redbacks to blast 94 runs off the last six hapless overs. The match winning score of 188 was too much for the Knight Riders !

Kolkotta failed by 19 runs and their fate was sealed when big hitting Yousuf Pathan was out. The score was just 102/5 when the master blaster fell.

It was lacklustre performance on the part of the Redbacks initially, as they plodded along for 94/3 off 15 overs. Then Ferguson accelerated and in just 7.2 overs, he put on 84 with Daniel Christian ! Off 31 balls, Christian scored 42.

Fireworks by Doeschate ( 32 off 19 ) and Rajat Bhatia saved Kolkotta from a heavy defeat.

"Callous" Ferguson devastates !

Callum Ferguson played a callous innings, 70 off 40 balls to guide the South Australian Redbacks to victory. Involved in a 84 run partnership with Christian, the callous Ferguson's innings helped the Redbacks to blast 94 runs off the last six hapless overs. The match winning score of 188 was too much for the Knight Riders !

Kolkotta failed by 19 runs and their fate was sealed when big hitting Yousuf Pathan was out. The score was just 102/5 when the master blaster fell.

It was lacklustre performance on the part of the Redbacks initially, as they plodded along for 94/3 off 15 overs. Then Ferguson accelerated and in just 7.2 overs, he put on 84 with Daniel Christian ! Off 31 balls, Christian scored 42.

Fireworks by Doeschate ( 32 off 19 ) and Rajat Bhatia saved Kolkotta from a heavy defeat.